The shattered pedestal of the Celestial Axis Hall crumbled beneath them, and Lu Qingyun's lofty, untouchable aura disappeared. His features contorted, and the transparent 'Blade of Order' cracked under the pressure of Xiao Wuchen's broken sword.
'Mortal emotions capable of rewriting the foundational code of a plane?' For the first time, a tremor of something called 'fear' rippled through Lu Qingyun's voice.
He tried to summon the residual power of the Qingyun Immortal Sect's mountain-defending array to seal off the void completely. Yet Xiao Wuchen had already transformed into the most terrifying logical black hole in existence.
[System log: Final Protocol Activated. Stripping 'Lu Qingyun's' Authority Marker.]
[Determination: Due to the host's will merging with myriad warrior souls, control of the plane is transferring...'
Xiao Wuchen ignored the system prompt. He felt his physical form rapidly dissolve into countless black particles. Each speck of dust bore the name of a fallen warrior, and every breath echoed the sound of a horse neighing on that winter night. "Lu Qingyun, you enslaved all beings with order, yet forgot that these very beings are the foundation of order itself."
Xiao Wuchen slowly closed his eyes. In this moment, he needed neither sight nor sound. He achieved a resonance called 'Return to the Void' with the broken sword; countless soldiers' souls filled the sky and Su Qingyue trembled behind him. [Crescent Moon Slash · Twelfth Form: Eternal Empty Moon] This strike unleashed neither light nor sound.
Time froze entirely on Qingyun's main peak. Shattered rocks were suspended in mid-air and Lu Qingyun's horrified expression was frozen on his face. Then, a pitch-black ripple radiated from Xiao Wuchen's core and formed a ring that spread across the entire cultivation realm. Wherever the ripple touched, the 'spiritual energy conduits' that Lu Qingyun had established to siphon mortal fortune were utterly destroyed.
The souls of countless mortals imprisoned deep within the Immortal Palace found absolute liberation in this moment. They scattered like stars, returning to the earth.
Lu Qingyun's immortal golden body crumbled like sand sculptures swept by a gale upon contact with the ripple, silently flaking away, dissolving and ultimately vanishing into nothingness. After the ripple had swept across the entire sky, the resplendent Qingyun Immortal Sect ceased to exist. In its place was a void of utter stillness, and below, the mortal realm's mountains and rivers returned to tranquillity.
Xiao Wuchen's form had become almost transparent, sustained only by the faint, warm red glow of humanity lingering over his heart.
[System log: logical closure detected.]Synchronisation Rate: ??? (System Collapsed)
Mission Reward: ????
Chi Kui carried Su Qingyue as he raced through the void. Su Qingyue had awakened. Watching his receding figure, she tried to call out his name, but her throat was choked and she was unable to make a sound.
Xiao Wuchen turned back, casting one final glance at the realm of Da Qian. On the scorched earth, withered trees were sprouting tender shoots, and the sandstorms gradually subsided before the tombstones of fallen brothers.
"Master... are you still there?" Chi Kui asked, trembling.
Xiao Wuchen gave no reply. His body dissolved into countless sparks of black light and scattered to every corner of the mortal world.
As the aftershocks of the Eternal Empty Moon swept through, Qingyun's once resplendent inner sanctum was reduced to utter desolation. Lu Qingyun had vanished, along with his cherished order, laws and control over all beings, which had been utterly obliterated beneath that pitch-black ripple. Yet Xiao Wuchen had paid a terrible price.
His body began to pixelate at the edges, the result of his synchronisation rate forcing the logical limits of the plane to shatter. This mortal flesh could no longer bear such immense karmic retribution.
[System log: Core logic severely compromised. Probability of host's physical survival: 0.03%.
[Warning: Divine consciousness is undergoing a transformation into 'Nothingness'. Integration with the plane's primordial essence imminent.]
"Master! Your hand! It's turning transparent!' Chi Kui rushed forward frantically, his three hands flailing futilely through the air as he grasped at the drifting black particles.
Xiao Wuchen looked down at his palm. The veins and skin patterns had vanished, replaced by flickering sparks of light, like redundant code moments before deletion. Su Qingyue propped up her weakened body and stumbled forward, kneeling before Xiao Wuchen. The Holy Maiden's mark between her brows had shattered. Now, she was just a fragile woman desperately waiting for her beloved at the Great Qian border.
'I haven't killed enough.' Xiao Wuchen croaked out the four words. Even as his body disintegrated, the will known as 'resentment' grew fiercer, invading the collapsing system and forcibly snatching a sliver of vitality from the void.[Body as Array: Final Form — Will Manifestation]
As the fiery sparks in the sky faded, the 'Soul Altar' at Xiao Wuchen's heart — originally used to contain the souls of generals — suddenly erupted with blinding crimson light.
The liberated military souls did not depart. Instead, they transformed into dark red threads and darted through the void to weave a "will" skeleton for Xiao Wuchen.
'They're setting your bones!' Chi Kui shouted excitedly.Xiao Wuchen's form stabilised temporarily, but he knew that this body, composed of willpower and fragmented souls, could not remain in the current cultivation realm for long. He gazed down at the lower world — the nine-thousand-li expanse of land that had returned to calm.'Chi Kui, take her away,' Xiao Wuchen instructed the demonic creature that had journeyed with him.
"Master, aren't you coming with us?" Chi Kui asked in surprise.
Xiao Wuchen shook his head and gazed at his demonic sword, 'Rootless', which had now transformed into a short black spike.'Lu Qingyun may be scattered, but the "gods" of this world are not yet extinct. Now that I am an unpredictable factor, I will be the sharpest bone spur in this realm." Extending his translucent hand, he gently touched Su Qingyue's brow, imparting the last vestige of pure immortal fortune to her and safeguarding her divine soul from extinction.'The day I crawl out of my grave, the sky will finally truly brighten.' With those words, Xiao Wuchen's figure suddenly collapsed backwards, plunging into the fissure carved by the 'Eternal Empty Moon' — the crack leading to the deepest depths of the plane, the 'Arctic Icefield'.
As Xiao Wuchen plummeted into the bottomless, pitch-black chasm, the image of the Qingyun Immortal Sect gradually faded from his vision. Here, space held no gravity, only viscous, ink-like currents of chaotic causality. The demonic energy that had once swept across the battlefield was being stripped away by an even older force. He could feel the backbone and willpower, woven from the souls of the soldiers, being ruthlessly dismantled.
[System Log: Host has detached from Qingyun Plane control and entered the Void Gap. Detecting high-dimensional radiation. Forcing downgrade to protect consciousness core.] Current status: Mortal Bone (0%), Divinity (0%), Demonic Nature (0%).
Remaining attribute: resentful soul.
His vision blurred as the once precise system interface dissolved into countless fragments resembling fireflies, escaping his consciousness to reintegrate into the primordial chaos. The 'system' that had once confined, assisted and reshaped him was now being purged automatically as junk data from this world.
In the instant before complete darkness engulfed him, Xiao Wuchen felt a faint burning sensation in his chest.
It was the jade shard that Su Qingyue had left him.
This fragment held not only the memories of the first chapter, but also contained a sliver of Su Qingyue's sacrificed divine essence. In this Abyssal Void, where even gods dissolved, this humble mortal's wish-power clung like a firefly swimming against the current, guarding Xiao Wuchen's core consciousness from being swallowed by the chaos.
Who knew how long it had been — perhaps ten thousand years, or perhaps just an instant? Deep within the frozen wasteland known as the 'Graveyard of Gods', amidst the perpetual blizzard, a rusted iron gauntlet encased in a massive ice pillar trembled slightly.
This was an ancient armoured warrior, fallen in some forgotten age. It had no spiritual energy or protective formations, only heavy, shattered iron armour that had almost fused with the glacier itself.
Xiao Wuchen's consciousness awoke in the biting cold of the glacier. There was no system prompt and no dazzling stat panel, only the bone-chilling, humanly real sensations of cold and hunger. Forcing his eyes open, he found that he had taken over this ruined warrior's body. His right hand still clutched the dull short dagger, the cursed sword 'Rootless'.From the distant blizzard came muffled, eerie howls — the ancient godhounds, sensing 'life', were hunting for their final sacrifice in this land of death.
Xiao Wuchen leaned on the dagger, struggling to rise from the frozen ground. His movements were stiff, each accompanied by the sour grinding of metal. He was no longer the omnipotent 'Demon Sword Immortal', empowered by the system, but a 'Grave Keeper' bearing an ancient military soul and wielding a broken blade.
'Lu Qingyun... this debt remains unpaid.'
Exhaling a breath of icy, blood-laced air, he saw a flame called 'resentment' flicker once more in his pitch-black eyes.